The Salk Institute recently received a $25 million gift from San Diego philanthropist and former Salk trustee Conrad T. Prebys to support cutting-edge biological research on a wide range of diseases. The gift, the single largest to the Institute's endowment, will help Salk researchers advance science and discover the next generation of breakthrough medical therapies.

In honor of Prebys' generosity, the Salk Institute auditorium, which regularly hosts talks by some of the most prominent scientists in the world, will be named the Conrad T. Prebys Auditorium.

"The scientists at Salk are diving deep into understanding how our bodies operate at the molecular level and what happens when we get sick," says Prebys, a prominent real estate developer and stalwart supporter of San Diego institutions. "It is vital work that must be done before we can really conquer disease. We need this foundational science to lay the underpinnings for new therapies and cures. I'm honored to play a role in supporting this important research." Read more»

Ronald M. Evans, director of the Gene Expression Laboratory at Salk and investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, recently was one of three scientists to receive $5 million in research funding as part of The Lustgarten Foundation's "Distinguished Scholars" program. The new program recognizes individuals who have made outstanding achievements in research focused on finding a cure for pancreatic cancer. Evans was also featured in "10 Extraordinary Scientists," a mini documentary produced by the University of Groningen, one of the oldest and largest universities in the Netherlands. The university granted an honorary doctorate to Evans for outstanding scientific research. Read more»

After the Pedal the Cause press conference, Dr. Geoffrey Wahl stands between sisters and cancer advocates Leah Lundien Harlig, left, and Bianca Lundien Kennedy, right, whose genes will be sequenced to determine why their cancer has returned multiple times. Photo by Charlie Neuman/UT San Diego.

Salk professor Geoffrey Wahl has been awarded grant funding for three of his cancer research projects from Pedal the Cause, a multi-day cycling fundraiser that supports cancer research. In all, Pedal the Cause awarded $400,000 for collaborative, translational cancer research, including projects at the Salk Institute, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research. Read more»

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Salkexcellerators gathered in the iconic courtyard for an outdoor reception on May 29 at the final presentation of the season. Rebecca Newman, VP of External Relations, shared that the San Diego program reached 45 families and raised $70,000 toward the annual fellowship. Salk President, Dr. William R. Brody, who is considered an expert on healthcare reform, discussed the challenges of our nation's healthcare system. Professor Chris Kintnershared findings on ways to diagnose and treat ciliopathies that may help generate new stem cell therapies to replace damaged tissues in the lungs and other organs. Please join us when we reconvene in September.

These images show the movement of patient-derived neural progenitor cells from a sphere of neurons in a migration assay. How far and quickly the neurons move indicates whether they may behave atypically in the brain.

"This study aims to investigate the earliest detectable changes in the brain that lead to schizophrenia," says Fred H. Gage, Salk professor of genetics. "We were surprised at how early in the developmental process that defects in neural function could be detected."